Gadgets like Fitbit are remaking how doctors treat patients

Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, knows when his patients' hearts are racing or their blood pressure is on the rise, even if they're sitting at home. With high-risk patients hooked up to "personal data trackers" — a portable electrocardiogram built into a smartphone case, for instance — he and his researchers can track the ups and downs of patients' conditions as they go about their lives. "It's the real deal of what's going on in their world from a medical standpoint," says Topol, whose work is part of a clinical trial. "The integration of that with the classical medical record is vital."